fish oil article?
fish oil article?
denverman1 said:
Looking for guidance and advice in regard to adding fish oil supplements to my use of Lipitor. Read an article last weekend on the advantages of fish oil supplements for people needing statin type drug regime. The article tended to state the value of using both the statin drug in combination with the fish oil supplement (900-2000 mg). Any comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
MarkNDenver
Mark, perhaps this is the article you saw in USA Weekend magazine?
"We've all heard that cholesterol-lowering statins, such as Lipitor and Zocor, stop heart attacks and save lives. Up to 15 million Americans take statins. But a new analysis in the Archives of Internal Medicine finds omega-3 fish oil far more lifesaving than statin drugs.
Swiss researchers reviewed 97 double-blind studies of the effectiveness of statins, two other pharmaceuticals, niacin, diet and fish oil in preventing cardiac deaths. Best bets statins and fish oil. And surprisingly, fish oil reduced heart deaths 32%, compared with 22% statins. Fish oil also was superior at warding off death from any cause. Statins cut overall deaths by 13%, fish oil by 23%.
What's the Secret? It's not cholesterol. Fish oil cut cholesterol by only 2 %, statins by 20%. Researchers speculate that fish oil works by reducing inflammation and triglycerides, stabilizing heart rhythms, normalizing vascular functions and thwarting clots.
How Much? Of What? Both eating omega-3 fatty fish and taking fish oil supplements work, but it's not clear whether one is better, says lead researcher Heiner C. Bucher. The best dose is unclear, too, but Bucher points out that a daily capsule of 900 milligrams of omega-3 cut cardiac deaths in heart patients by 28% in a major Italian study. (Equal to 2.5 oz of Alaskan salmon daily.)
Bottom Line: Don't quit statins without consulting your doctor. Buchner says fish oil plus statins might be even more effective, but tests are needed. The FDA says to limit omega-3 supplements to 2,000 mg a day."
Two weeks ago Cleveland Clinic sent me a LONG list of meds to discontinue before I went there for pre-surgery testing, warfarin, aspirin, etc. and I asked about fish oil but that was not on their list. This really surprised me because I was sure I had read, perhaps in Al's site, I can't remember, that fish oil had "blood thinning" properties. I discontinued it temporarily anyway.
